Brush making apparatus



May 30, 1967 MARKS ET Al.

BRUSH MAKING APPARATUS Filed March l5, 1965 HUM n i 2M. ,5

mmf ma n ,mm la! .A rf n United States Patent O 3,322,467 BRUSH MAKINGAPPARATUS Theod'ore Marks, Hartsdale, and Joseph T. Gelard,

Yonkers, N.Y., assignors to American Technical Machinery Corp., MountVernon, NX., a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 15, 1965. Ser. No.439,824 5 Claims. (Cl. 300-2) This invention relates to an apparatus formaking twisted wire products and, in particular, to a brush makingapparatus for producing a twisted wire brush by the application of atwisting force to adjacently arranged strands of wire with bristles heldtherebetween.

It is known to produce twisted wire brush products by depositingbristles between adjacent strands of wire and then twisting the strandsabout each other to lock the bristles in place. In order to effecttwisting, the strands with the bristles therebetween are supported viameans to provide a reacting force to oppose the applied twisting force.One such type of means comprises a pair of stationary opposed feed jawswhich are adapted via opposed grooves or wire guide channels in the jawsto receive and pass t-he wires therethrough. As 4a pair of adjacentlyarranged wires approach the feed jaws, bristles are deposited betweenthem, and as the wires with the bristles pass through the spaced jawswith each wire riding a groove or channel, a twisting force is appliedto the emerging wires to lock the bristles therebetween, thetwist-reacting force being set up at the jaws. The twisting of the wiresis generally accomplished by a rotating chuck in which the ends of thewires are gripped. The chuck is mounted on a reciprocating carriage and,during the operating stroke, the chuck pulls the wires with the brushbristles held therebetween, while either during or at the end of thestroke the chuck is rotated to impart a twist to the wires. Uponcompletion of the operating stroke, knives `are operated to cut thetwisted brush element. The chuck is then returned to home position andthe operation repeated. As will be apparent, this process of makingbrushes is intermittent and not continuous.

In U.S. Ser. No. 92,657, led Mar. 1 1961, now Patent No. 3,160,440 inthe name of Joseph T. Gelardi and assigned to the same assignee as thisapplication, an apparatus is disclosed for continuously producingtwisted wire brushes comprising a hollow member adapted to receive abrush body and topermit passage of a brush bod-y therethrough, and meansassociated with the hollow member for applying a force to the bristlesheld between the wires for imparting a twist to the wires. In oneembodiment, the means for imparting the twist to the wires comprises ahelical screw rigidly attached to the interior of the hollow means, suchthat as the hollow member rotates, the bristles are `acted upon by thehelix of the screw thereby imparting a twist to the `wire while causingthe wire and associated bristles to feed linearly through the hollowmember.

In the present invention we provide a new and improved apparatus forcontinuously producing twisted wire brushes.

It is thus an object of our invention to provide a brush makingapparatus for simultaneously twisting and feeding a twisted wire productin a linear direction.

Another object is to provide a combined feeding and brush twistingdevice of simple construction.

These and other objects will more clearly appear when taken inconjunction with the following description and the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is one embodiment of the invention comprising a rotatably mountedhollow shaft partially broken away having means therein for continuouslygripping and draw- 3,322,467 Patented May 30, 1967 ing therethrough apair of adjacently arranged wires having bristles supportedtherebetween;

FIG. 2 is a section taken along line 2 2 of FIG. 1 showing in moredetail the means employed for .actuating the gripping and drawing meanswithin the rotatable shaft.`

FIG. 3 shows in longitudinal cross section another embodiment of theinvention utilizing another form of a gripping and drawing means forpassing wire through the hollow shaft.

FIG. 4 is illustrative of la still further embodiment of the inventionshowing fragmentarily a hollow shaft having mounted therein another formof a gripping and drawing means; and

FIG. 5 is a fragment of a hollow shaft showing a pair of toothed wheelsrotatably mounted therein adapted to grip and pass wire through andalong the axis of the shaft.

In carrying our invention into practice, we provide a brush twistingdevice comprising a rotatably mounted hollow shaft, means within thehollow shaft for continuously gripping and drawing therethrough a pairof adjacently arranged wires with bristles therebetween, transmissionmeans associated with the hollow shaft in driving association with themeans for gripping and drawing the wires, and means for rotating thehollow shaft such that the wires leaving the hollow shaft are twistedabout each other with the bristles locked therebetween.

In a preferred embodiment, the brush twisting device provided by theinvention may comprise a hollow shaft having an inlet end and an outletend, means lassociated with the inlet end and with the outlet end forrotatably supporting the ends of the shaft and gripping and drawingmeans within the hollow shaft for continuously gripping and drawingtherethrough a pair of adjacently arranged wires with bristles supportedtherebetween, the gripping and drawing means comprising a set of opposedrotatable members with their respective surfaces ,adjacent each other,said surfaces being endlessly movable as to grip and move the wirelinearly along substantially the longitudinal axis of the hollow shaft.The preferred device has la driven member coaxially integral with theoutside surface of the hollow shaft, transmission means associated withthe hollow shaft in driving association with the gripping and drawingmeans, means cooperably associated with said rotatable hollow shaft fordriving the transmission means by means of the rotation of the shaft,and means cooperably associated with the coaxially mounted driven memberof the shaft for effecting rotation thereof such that the wires leavingthe outlet end are twisted about each other with the bristles lockedtherebetween.

Referring to FIGS. l and 2, a hollow shaft 10, partially broken away, isshown rotatably mounted at its ends to stationary supports 11 and 12 viaantifriction bearings 13 and 14 held by said supports, each of thesupports 11 and 12 having an opening 11a and 12a therein communicatingwith the hollow o'f t-he shaft, such that support 11 is lassociated withthe inlet of said shaft, while support 12 is associated with the outletthereof.

Mounted coaxially to the outer circumference of the shaft and keyed toit is a driven gear 15 in meshing engagement with a driving gear 16supported by shaft 17 associated with conventional driving means (notshown), suc-h as a motor Ior the like. Mounted within the shaft is a setof opposed rotatable members comprising peripherally grooved wheels 17,18, 19 and 20 supported by shafts, for example shafts 21 land 22 (F-IG.t2), running transversely to the longitudinal axis of the shaft andsupported by the wall o'f the hollow shaft. As 4shown in FIG. 2, theshafts are rotatably supported by end mounts, c g.

ICC

23, 24 fixed to the wall of the shaft. Wheels 17 and 18 are rotatablycoupled via a continuous bead chain 25, as are wheels 19 and 20 which`are coupled via continuous bead chain A26. The grooved wheelspreferably have substantially hemispherical notches distributedperipherally at the bottom of each groove for receiving the beaded chainto insure non-slippage of the chain during operation.

In the embodiment of FIG. l, wheels 17 to 20 are rotated viatransmission means located, in this case, near the inlet side of thehollow shaft. In this instance, two transmission means `are provided,one coupled to wheel 17 and the other to wheel 19. With respect to wheel17, the transmission means therefor comprises a rotatable shaft 27suitably supported as shown having bevel gear 28 (also note FIG. 2) inmeshing engagement with bevel gear 29 (FIG. 2) mounted coaxially yand infixed relationship with grooved wheel 17. At the opposite end of shaft27, a gear 30 is `mounted which extends into the opening of stationarysupport 11 and is in meshing engagement with an internal annular gear 31fixed in the opening of stationary support 11. Similarly, thetransmission means for wheel 19 comprises shaft 32 having `a bevel gear33 in meshing engagement with bevel gear 34 (FIG. 2) mounted coaxiallyand in fixed relationship with grooved wheel 19. The opposite end ofshaft 32 has a gear 35 which extends into the opening of stationarysupport 11 and is likewise in meshing engagement with the teeth ofinternal gear 31.

With the elements coupled as stated above, the beaded chains are causedto move lfrom the inlet end to the outlet end of the shaft as `the shaftrotates. For example, as the shaft rotates on the bearings, gears 30 and35 ride the teeth of internal gear 31 causing shafts 27 and 32 of thetransmission means to rotate. This in turn causes rotation of bevel4gears 28 and 33 which are oppositely disposed and in meshing engagementwith bevel gears 29 and 34, respectively, of wheels 17 and 19 so thatwheels 17 and 19 are caused to move towards eachother to give linearmotion to both beaded chains in unison towards the outlet end of theshaft. The two chains being closely adjacent each other provide thegripping and drawing means for continuously gripping and drawingtherethrough a pair of adjacently arranged wires having bristlessupported ltherebetween.

In utilizing the device described above, the strands of wire with thebristles therebetween are fed to the inlet side of the device by meansof a bristle and wire feeding mechanism t0 be described. Referring toFIG. l, `a hopper 40 is shown in which is stored bristles 41 which arecarried by picker slot 42, in the periphery of picker wheel 43 to aposition between adjacent pins of pin wheel 44. The picker slot may have`an adjustable bottom which can be raised or lowered to change thebristle capacity o'f picker slot 42. With each revolution of the pickerwheel, picker slot 42 moves across the open end of hopper 40 andreceives a charge of bristles which it then transfers to the pin wheelnear the inclined portion of bristle guide surface 45. The bristles arethen carried by a dual pin wheel 44 whose symmetrical wheel members arearranged to overlap a portion of picker wheel 43, and whose pins 46sweep past the bottom of the inclined portion of bristle guide surface45. Only one-half of the pin wheel Structure is shown in the drawing,but it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the assemblycontains another wheel, not shown, which is identical to wheel 44 andwhich is mounted on the same shaft with its pins in alignment with pins46.

The pins of wheel 44 carry the bristles along curved extension 47 ofincline 45 and deposit them between wires 48 and 49 as shown in FIG. .1.Continuous wire 48 is drawn from a storage reel (not shown) and betweenidler rollers 50 and 51. The wire then passes between the two halves ofthe picker wheel through wire guide 48a as shown towards a pair of jaws52 which may be of `the type disclosed in copending application Ser. No.92,657, filed Mar. l, 1961. Simultaneously as wire `48 is being drawntowards the jaws, wire 49 is being drawn between idler wheels 53 and 53abei ow the bristle charging station, the wire being drawn just `beneathextension 47 so that bristles are deposited upon wire 49. The bristlesare held fast by wire 48 bearing on wire 4-9 as the bristle-laden wiresmove linearly towards jaws 52 comprising two die halves with a wiregroove in the upper half and a wire groove in the lower half forreceiving and guiding the wires to the inlet end of shaft 10.

As the bristle-laden wires enter the hollow shaft, they are grasped bythe ball `chain and held substantially securely as the shaft rotates andwhile the -bristle-laden wires are being transported to the outlet endof the shaft by the chain. A brush product 55 emerges fully twisted `andmay be cut in the desired size or wound up on a large drum.

While FIGS. 1 and 2 show one embodiment for linearly moving thebristle-laden wires through the hollow shaft, it will be appreciatedthat other equivalent techniques may be employed. For example, .in FIG.3, a crosssection of a similar device is shown comprising hollow shaft60 similarly supported by bearings 61 and 62 between stationary ends 63and 64. The means for rotating the shaft are not shown since they areadequately illustrated in FIG. 1, the main function of FIG. 3 being toshow another embodiment for moving the wires linearly through the shaft.The additional embodiment comprises a pair of worms 65 and 66 arrangedadjacent each other with their axes parallel with that of the hollowshaft, the worms being rotatably mounted via their respective shafts 67and 68 mounted in the annular end walls of shaft 60 as shown. The wormsare rotated via gear transmission means shown near the inlet side 69 ofthe device cornprising gears 70 and 71 rotatably mounted in the annularend wall of hollow shaft 60, each of said gears being in meshingengagement with annular internal gear 72 of stationary support 63.Mounted on worm shaft 67 and 68 are gears 73 `and 74 which mesh withgears 70 and 71, respectively. Thus, as hollow shaft 60 is caused torotate in the manner described for FIG. 1, gears 70 and 71 ride theteeth of internal gear 72 causing worms 65 and 66 to rotate towards eachother. By having the threads of the two worms lead towards the outletend of the shaft, wires passing therethrough are caused to move linearlyin that direction.

A still further embodiment is shown in FIG. 4 which is similar to theembodiment of FIG. 1 except that in place of the bead chain a V-belt isemployed with the outer surface of the belt having a saw toothconfiguration as shown. WhileFIG. 4 is shown fragmentarily, the numeralsdesignated for the parts are the same `as for FIG. 1 except for theV-belt. As in FIG. 1, wheels 75, 76, 77 and 78 are supported by shaftsrunning transversely of the longitudinal axis of the hollow shaft.V-belts 79 and 80 are saw toothed at the outer surface as show-n at 81.The belt, being somewhat resilient, will grip the bristle-laden wiresand draw them through the shaft to the outlet end as described for FIG.1.

The same effect may be achieved with a pair of toothed wheels 8S and 86shown in FIG. 5. These wheels would be similarly drive-n by geartransmission means (not shown) as described for FIGS. 1 and 4. Thebristle-laden wires would be grasped between the wheels and moved in alinear direction towards the outlet side of rotating shaft 10, saidlshaft being rotated simil-ary as in FIG. 1.

While several means have been shown for gripping and drawing the wiresthrough the hollow shaft, these means in the broad aspect comprise a setof rotatable members with their respective movable surfaces adjacenteach other, the surfaces being endless during their movement so that thewire product is continuously moved in a linear path through the hollowshaft. The endless movement of the surfaces in contact with thebristle-laden wire may be the moving periphery of a circular element orthe moving surface generated by a chain or belt drive and any variationthereof.

Although the present invention has been described in conjunction withpreferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modiiications andvariations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as those skilled in the art will readilyunderstand. 'Such modifications and variations are considered to bewithin the purview and scope of the invention and the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A brush twisting device comprising a rotatably mounted hollow shaft,rotatably mounted means within said rotatable shaft for continuouslygripping and drawin-g therethrough a pair of adjacently arranged wireswith bristles therebetween, transmission means associated with saidhollow shaft for rotating said rotatably mounted means for gripping anddrawing said wires, said transmission means being actuated as the shaftrotates, and means for rotating said hollow shaft such that the Wiresare drawn through said hollow shaft and leave said shaft twisted abouteach other with the bristles locked therebetween.

2. A brush twisting device comprising .a rotatably mounted hollow shaft,means within said rotatable hollow shaft for continuously `gripping anddrawing therethrough a pair of -adjacently arranged wires with bristlestherebetween, said means comprising a set of opposed rotatable memberswith their respective surfaces adjacent each other, said surfaces beingendlessly Imovable so as to move the wires line-arly along substantiallythe longitudinal axis of the hollow shaft, transmission means associatedwith said hollow shaft in driving association with the means forgripping and drawing said wires, said transmission means being actuatedas the shaft rotates, and means for rotating said hollow shaft such thatthe wires are drawn through said hollow shaft and leave said shafttwisted about each other with the bristles locked therebetween.

3. A brush twisting device comprising a rotatably mounted hollow shaft,mea-ns wtihin said rotatable hollow shaft for continuously gripping anddrawing therethrough a pair of adjacently arranged wires with bristlestherebetween, said means comprising a set of lopposed rotatable memberswith their respective surfaces adjacent each other, said surfaces beingendlessly movable so as to move the wires linearly along substantiallythe longitudinal axis of the hollow shaft, transmission means associatedwit-h said hollow shaft in driving association via -a train of gearswith the means for gripping and drawing said wires, a stationary annulargear associated with one end of said hollow shaft and operativelycoupled to said transmission means, said transmission means beingactuated as the shaft rotates, and means for rotating said hollow shaftsuch that the wires are drawn through said hollow shaft and leave saidshaft twisted about each other with the bristles locked therebetween.

4. A brush twisting device comprising a hollow shaft having an inlet andan outlet end, means associated with the inlet end and with the outletend for rotatably supporting said ends, gripping and drawing meanswithin said hollow shaft for continuously gripping and drawingtherethrough a pair of adjacently arranged wires with bristles supportedtherebetween, said means comprising a set of opposed rotatable memberswith their respective surfaces adjacent each other, said surfaces beingendlessly movable so as to move the wires linearly along substantiallythe longitudinal axis of the hollow shaft, a driven member coaxially xedto the outside surface of said hollow shaft, transmission meansassociated with said hollow shaft in driving association with saidgripping and drawing means, means cooperably associated with saidrotatable hollow shaft for driving said transmission means by virtue ofthe rotation of said shaft, and means cooperably associated with thecoaxially mounted driven member of the shaft for effecting rotationthereof, such that the wires are drawn through said hollow shaft andleave the outlet end twisted about each other with the bristles lockedtherebetween.

5. A brush twisting device comprising a hollow shaft having an inlet andan outlet end, stationary means associated with the inlet end and withthe outlet end for rotatably supporting said ends, one of saidstationary means having an annular gear associated therewith, grippingand drawing means within said hollow shaft for continuously gripping anddrawing therethrough a pair of adjacently arranged wires with bristles,supported therebetween, said means comprising a set of opposedrotatable members with their resepective surfaces adjacent each other,said surfaces being endlessly movable so as t-o move the wires linearlyalong substantially the longitudinal axis of the hollow shaft, a drivenmember coaxially xed to the outside surface of said hollow shaft,transmission means associated with said hollow shaft in drivingassociation via a train of gears with said gripping and drawing means,said transmission means being coupled via a gear to said annulargearfmeans for feeding a pair of .adjacently arranged wires withbristles supported therebetween into the inlet end of said hollow shaft,and means cooperably ass-ociated with the coaxially mounted drivenmember of the shaft for effecting rotation thereof, such that the wiresare drawn through said hollow shaft and leave the outlet end twistedabout each other with the bristles locked therebetween.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,160,440 8/ 1964 Gelardi 300-2`3,231,311 1/1966 Marks et al 30G-2 WILLIAM I. STEPHENSON, PrimaryExlminer.

1. A BRUSH TWISTING DEVICE COMPRISING A ROTATABLY MOUNTED HOLLOW SHAFT,ROTATABLY MOUNTED MEANS WITHIN SAID ROTATABLE SHAFT FOR CONTINUOUSLYGRIPPING AND DRAWING THERETHROUGH A PAIR OF ADJACENTLY ARRANGED WIRESWITH BRISTLES THEREBETWEEN, TRANSMISSION MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH SAIDHOLLOW SHAFT FOR ROTATING SAID ROTATABLY MOUNTED MEANS FOR GRIPPING ANDDRAWING SAID WIRES, AND TRANSMIS-